Vertical cavity surface emitting laser diodes

Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) were realized in MBE-grown GaAS/A1GaAS and MOVPE-grown InGaAsPf.EnP material systems with emission wavelengths near 0.87 and 1.3 p.m. respectively. The GaAS/A1GaAS VCSELs incorporating epitaxially grown DBR mirrors on both sides of the cavities were operated at room temperature cw condition with maximum output power greater than 1 mW. The InGaAsP/InP VCSEL, which employed a much simpler cavity structure containing metal and dielectric mirrors, operated up to 220 K with a threshold current as low as 5 mA at 77K, indicating that improvements on the cavity design should yield room temperature lasing operation. Single longitudinal mode emission and circular near- and far-field patterns were observed for the two VCSEL structures.